Spurs forward Antonio McDyess made a case for Tony Parker less pointedly, but with similar passion. Parker, he said, helps make every Spurs player better. He also has to share the ball, and the spotlight, with much better players than other guards selected ahead of him.

Put some of the selected guards on the Spurs, McDyess said, and see what kind of scoring averages they produce.

Parker and Aldridge aren’t the first worthy players denied participation in the game. But at least Parker has been on three All-Star squads in the past.

The list that follows includes the best players who never made an All-Star team. Aldridge, of course, will have a chance to escape this list in future years:
LaMarcus Aldridge

Team: Trail Blazers (2006-present)

Career stats: Five seasons, 16.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.0 BPG

All-Star snub: 2010-11, 21.2 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.3 BPG

Rundown: Aldridge has become one of the league’s elite power forwards at both ends of the court. With Brandon Roy out, he is the focus of Portland’s offense and has thrived in the role.

Rundown: Believe it or not, Strickland is ninth on the league’s all-time assists list, with 7,987. Spurs fans will just have to forget that he dribbled out the clock in a playoff game the Spurs trailed.

Rundown: He ranks 44th on the all-time scoring list. Every player ahead of him made at least one All-Star team, and quite a few behind him.

Drazen Petrovic

Teams: Trail Blazers (1989-91), Nets (’91-93)

Career stats: Four seasons, 15.4 PPG, 50.6 FG, 43.7 3PT

All-Star snub: 1993-93, 22.3 PPG, 51.8 FG, 44.9 3PT

Rundown: Who is to say if Petrovic, one of the greatest shooters in basketball history, would have been an All-Star had he not died in an auto accident in the summer of 1993? The fact is, he should have been on the 1993 Eastern All-Star team.

Rundown: One of the top defensive point guards ever, Harper played in Dallas in an era of great Western Conference points, such as Magic Johnson and Fat Lever. Still, his numbers in 1989-90 merited an All-Star appearance.

Arvydas Sabonis

Team: Trail Blazers (1995-2001, 2002-03)

Career stats: Seven seasons, 12.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.1 APG

All-Star snub: 1997-98, 16.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 3.0 APG

Rundown: There are those who believe the 7-foot-3, 280-pound Sabonis, who didn’t come to the NBA until he was 31, was the greatest big man ever. Even at age 34, he put up All-Star NBA numbers.